The Five C's

Gary, IN-based R&B vocal group the Five C's formed in 1951 -- according to Marv Goldberg's profile on his R&B Notebooks website, founders Clarence Anderson (lead tenor), Curtis Nevils (tenor), and Carlos Patterson (bass) originally adopted the name Three C's, and performed as a trio while finishing their careers at Gary's Froebel High School. After graduation, the group expanded with the additions of baritone Melvin Carr and high tenor Harvey Honey, nicknaming the latter "Clyde" solely for the purposes of accuracy in renaming themselves the Five C's. Because all five members worked in the Gary mills, they were forced to restrict their live appearances to weekends, but by late 1953 they'd earned enough to enter Chicago's Universal Recording Studio to cut their debut single, "Tell Me." Issued in early 1954 on the local United label, the disc was a minor local hit, and the Five C's reentered the studio in May to cut their sophomore effort, "My Heart's Got the Blues," backed by saxophonist Eddie Chamblee's orchestra. The record made less of an impact than its predecessor, and a third United session remains unreleased. Carr quit the group soon after to join the military, and with new baritone Leroy "Clifford" Hicks, the Five C's continued intermittently for over a decade, never again recording but playing the occasional Froebel High alumni gathering and the like. In the late '60s, they even shared a bill with another Gary quintet: an up-and-coming sibling group called the Jackson 5. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide